‘I Care A Lot’ Review: A Pointless, Narrow-Minded Take on Feminism
I Care A Lot, directed by J Blakeson, follows Marla (Rosamund Pike), a legal guardian for the elderly who manipulates her clients as a means of draining them of their money in a plot to become rich. Marla works with her partner Fran (Eiza González) to steal the savings of her new client Jennifer (Dianne Wiest), but is unaware of Jennifer’s ties to the mafia. After finding out his mother is being taken advantage of, Roman (Peter Dinklage) vows to go to any lengths necessary to get Jennifer back. What follows is a messy, often senseless story of greed and revenge that quickly grows tired because of its often-illogical plot.
I Care A Lot suffers for many reasons, the first being its characters. No characters in the film stand out as likeable — this is specifically detrimental for the character of Marla, who is meant to be rooted for despite her being arrogant, malicious, and generally detestable. Marla does not have a greater reason for her actions besides her desire for money; her incessant greed makes her insufferable to watch at points, and it’s nearly impossible to root for her success.
There are scenes in the film where Marla escapes near-death situations that are entirely unbelievable and unrealistic. Marla is supposed to be seen as unstoppable, and somehow outsmarts the entire mafia, who spend the film trying to kill her. The same can be said of Fran, who is put in situations — specifically one situation in the second act — where it would have been nearly impossible for her to survive. The movie loses merit because it is afraid of being realistic, and this lack of realism is impossible to ignore while watching the film.
What stands out as the biggest problem in I Care A Lot is its perception and depiction of feminism, which is obviously told through the lens of a man. It feels as though Blakeson has just learned what feminism is, and he flaunts his knowledge as a means of making the women in the film seem empowered — however, his idea of feminism is clearly skewed, and the supposedly feminist moments come out corny, performative, and painful to watch.
It’s specifically difficult because of its cisgender point of view, and the feminism in the film often delves into the realm of biology and ignores the existence of trans women. It’s feminism revolves completely around Blakeson’s idea that woman = vagina, something that is blatantly and uncomfortably stated towards the beginning of the film. Though the central romance in I Care A Lot is between two women, it does not make up for the narrow-minded view of feminism that Blakeson presents, and the romance is overall unfit for the story that is being told.
There is nothing that stands out as great in I Care A Lot. The characters feel like caricatures of real people, and though the actors try to give their best performances, the script is too weak for the performances alone to make the movie watchable. There is nothing logical in the script, and the story fails because of this. The ending in particular is out of place and random, and it is clear that Blakeson was unsure of how to tell this story. There’s no real message in I Care A Lot aside from money equaling power. This harmful view permeates through the entire film, with Marla going as far as saying she wants to be rich so that she can use money as a weapon and wield her power over people. The film does not achieve what it sets out to do, and though the cast tries to give their best, there are ultimately too many flaws in the story to make it worthwhile.
I Care A Lot is overall pointless, and has no real message or theme. It was entirely disappointing, and comes off as a vanity project more than anything. Despite its efforts to be progressive, it’s merely performative and vapid. Nothing about it makes it worth watching, and the two hours spent on the film feels like a waste.
For those still interested in watching, I Care A Lot is currently streaming on Netflix.
